Traditional Religions

My second lecture was in the college's World Religions class.  They were studying through a unit on traditional religions, and I was asked to come in and talk about Melanesian traditional religions. As is often said, I learned so much more preparing to teach the material than I ever would have being the student.

I opened the lecture talking about how the gospel was originally introduced to Vanuatu, primarily through European explorers (who, upon their "discovery" of a new country, stimulated missionary activity) and returned "blackbirds" (Pacific islanders who were recruited by trickery or kidnapping to work in cotton and sugar plantations in Australia, some of whom eventually returned to Vanuatu).

I then talked about three specific activities that are still very much in practice in Vanuatu, all of which are based in traditional religion. First is the John Frum "cargo cult." The religion's mysterious prophet allegedly came on the scene in Tanna Island early in the 20th century promising locals bountiful gifts of western-style cargo if they would reject the western influence that was beginning to adversely affect their custom ways and traditions. When African-American soldiers reached land in Vanuatu a fews later during World War 2, the locals assumed that the prophecies must be true, as there were indeed "black men" who had access to the cargo (radios, fancy clothes, Coca-Cola, cigarettes, firearms, airplanes, etc). It is said that John is going to return with the coveted cargo on February 15, but the year is unknown. There are still several devoted followers who are expectantly awaiting his return.

Second I discussed the custom called "nangol" or land-diving, which takes place on the island of Pentecost. It has religious overtones in that locals build large towers out of local materials and "bungee-jump" from various platforms in an effort to please the gods and secure a productive yam harvest, with only vines attached to their ankles. I showed a short video clip of the modern-day performance of this ritual in class.

Third I talked about an event that took place shortly after we arrived in Vanuatu, wherein one of the country's active volcanos was causing serious concern in the locals by spewing ash onto crops and homes. Local villagers, some of whom claim to be direct-descendants of the Volcano gods, made a peace offering to these gods in an effort to appease their wrath. A newspaper interview showed that the villagers strongly believed in these animistic gods, and that they were convinced that their offerings (woven mats and pig tusks) were indeed effective.

By way of application, I talked about a few issues that we deal with on a regular basis that have evolved from these types of traditional religious beliefs. I discussed issues such as custom medicine, sorcery and black magic; marriage, fornication and adultery; kava consumption (intoxicant); domestic violence; and land disputes. The gospel has an answer for all these issues, but implementing them has proven to be a challenge as we are cultural-outsiders. In many ways we feel like we are just now "hitting our stride" in regard to dealing with these sorts of cultural issues.

I really enjoyed the topic and sharing about it, and hope that it was beneficial to the students. I told them that my aim in the lecture was to broaden their understanding of the differences in culture throughout the world. Though most of them will likely never serve full time on foreign mission fields in that type of setting, several of them will likely take part in a short-term mission trip or will be a part of a local congregation that is involved in some way in a mission effort in a developing country. I feel like putting everything together like that was beneficial for me as well, and will help me be more effective as we move forward with the work in Vanuatu.